168 Evacuees From Afghanistan Lands In India

A special Indian Air Force aircraft carrying 168 evacuees from Afghanistan's Kabul landed at the Ghaziabad Hindon airbase in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday.

The flight had 107 Indian nationals among those evacuated from Afghanistan, which has been overtaken by the Taliban a week ago. Passengers who arrived here will first undergo a COVID RT PCR test.

India has been allowed to operate two flights per day from Kabul to evacuate its nationals stranded in Afghanistan, government sources told ANI.

The permission was granted by American and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces which have been controlling operations of the Hamid Karzai International Airport after the Afghan capital fell to the Taliban on August 15.

The MEA has said the government is committed to the safe return of all Indian nationals from Afghanistan. The MEA said that the main challenge for travel to and from Afghanistan is the operational status of the Kabul airport.